Jason Kidd is still limited in the number of minutes he can log since his return from off-season knee surgery, but the star point guard is not scheduled to see any doctors in the foreseeable future. Nets coach Lawrence Frank points out that they have an easier way of monitoring Kidd.

“His doctor has cable,” Frank said yesterday.

Kidd has been back in the Nets’ lineup for four games, in which No. 5 has rejuvenated a team that needed an offensive spark. In that time, the Nets, who host the Knicks tonight at the Meadowlands, have gone 3-1. But while there is no question as to Kidd’s importance to the Nets’ success, there are several questions as to just when and where and how much Kidd should play.

Limited to just 21.5 minutes per game as he progressively gets back into top playing shape, Kidd often wilts on the bench and loses any kind of rhythm he could get while running the offense. Tonight, for example, he’ll start against the first-place Knicks, play for a couple of minutes, and then potentially not come back until the second half – plenty of time for his doctors to channel surf.

“It’s tough,” Kidd said. “But it’s just an adjustment that we’re working through and I’m going to continue to get better.”

When should Kidd play? How long should his shifts be? These are all the magic questions facing Frank and the Nets.

“Everybody obviously wants to be very smart about this, but the doctors know best,” Frank said. “A lot better than we do.”

As Kidd improves, so do the Nets. Consider that going into tonight’s game against the Knicks (10-10), the Nets trail by only three games in the standings after an abysmal 2-11 start.

“He might have been able to play three weeks ago, two weeks ago, a month ago,” Richard Jefferson, who was named the Eastern Conference player of the week, said. “But would he have been 100 percent? No. We waited for him to come back until he was 100 percent, and you can see how well it worked out.

“Sooner or later, he’s going to start playing more. He’s gonna start playing 30 [minutes], maybe get up to 40. It’s just a matter of time and you want him to ease into it.”

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Alonzo Mourning will not play tonight for the third straight game, sitting out with a host of bumps and bruises, including right knee tendinitis. “To be very truthful,” Frank said of his return, “there is no timetable.”

Mourning spent time in the weight room yesterday before going to see a therapist for his ailments, which also include a hip pointer and balky pinkie. “We’re just going to wait and see,” Frank said.